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We developed remaining service life diagnostic technology of phenol insulators for circuit breakers. Phenol insulators were analyzed by chemical evaluation such as ion concentration and coloration, and the results were diagnosed by the MahalanobisTaguchi system (MTS), which is a pattern information technology. Particularly effective items for diagnosis included ions of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, chloride, and calcium. Since there was a good relationship between the results diagnosed by MTS and the actual measurement results of surface resistivity, we found that applying MTS to the chemical evaluation results allowed deterioration diagnosis of phenol insulators instead of surface resistivity, which couldn't be measured on-site. Time was defined as the end of the service life when electrical discharge was initiated and remaining service life was predicted. The linear relationship (master curve of service life) was clarified between the real number value of elapsed time and the logarithmic value of surface resistivity at 50% RH, and remaining service life was predicted from the diagnosis results by MTS and the year in which the master curve and the threshold value intersect. Surface resistivity (threshold value) for electrical discharge initiation was derived from creepage distance, permittivity of phenol insulators, frequency, etc. We substantiated that the remaining service life of the phenol insulators could be predicted by this technology because a good relationship existed between the check examination results of the electric discharge initiation in the laboratory and the prediction results. Index Terms--Remaining service life diagnosis, phenol insulators, circuit breakers, electric discharge, chemical evaluation, Mahalanobis-Taguchi system.

For the study of biological effects of direct current (DC) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electric fields, we have quantitatively analyzed red blood cell (RBC) movement in whole blood. Considering the inhomogeneous distribution of electric fields in vivo, five different electric field distributions were generated under a microscope. For theoretical analyses, we assumed electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis as basic motive forces and obtained the spatial distribution of blood cell velocity. The RBC velocity was measured using video image analysis. The spatial dependence of the velocity showed good agreement with that predicted by theoretical analysis. This result suggests the validity of the theoretical model based on electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis for the study of ELF electric field exposure to inhomogeneous animal and human bodies. Next, using the same measurement system, we attempted to find the electric field strength at which these effects occur. The threshold values were found to be 0.40 and 1.6 kV/m, respectively, for DC and AC electric field exposures. Furthermore, we investigated the reproducibility of the field effects in more realistic conditions of human exposure. The RBCs in microchannels were exposed to the electric field generated in capacitive coupling using electrodes separated by an air gap. Even in the new condition, similar effects were observed, which also verified the validity of the analysis described above. These results will provide useful information for the safety assessment of field exposure and for the future biomedical applications of electric fields to manipulate RBCs in vivo., (© 2023 The Authors. Bioelectromagnetics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Bioelectromagnetics Society.)

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of orthogeriatric co-management of hip fractures at a regional core hospital., Methods: This study included patients with proximal hip fracture. Patients were divided into two groups, conventional multidisciplinary group I including patients attending the hospital between April 2015 and March 2016 and orthogeriatric group II including patients attending the hospital between April 2016 and March 2017, which were compared retrospectively. In the control group, the conventional multidisciplinary team treated patients as whole-body controls. In the intervention group, the newly recruited geriatricians performed physical examinations, laboratory tests, radioactive imaging, and physiological tests. Furthermore, they consulted ward pharmacists, rigorously conducted positive polypharmacy interventions , and evaluated the type and number of mediated drugs on admission., Results: The number of medicated drugs significantly decreased from 6.03 ± 4.3 on admission to 5.50 ± 3.59 on discharge in group II, whereas group I did not show a significant decrease. Despite the more number of hospitalized patients in group II (166 patients) than in group I (126 patients), the recovery rate from postoperative urinary retention increased significantly from 57.8% (19/30) in group I to 84.3% (32/59) in group II (p = 0.049), while the incidence of aspiration pneumonia decreased from 7.1% (9/126) in group I to 2.49% (4/166) in group II (p = 0.08). The patients received six or more prescribed drugs on admission, and the number remained constant. However, the number of medicated drugs on discharge showed a marginally significant decrease from 6.03 ± 4.3 in group I to 5.50 ± 3.59 in group II (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: Compared to the conventional multidisciplinary group, the orthogeriatric team contributed to reducing the number of multi-effect drugs and perioperative complications without negatively affecting mortality despite the increased number of patients. The in-hospital mortality rate did not change between the groups. The orthogeriatric program succeeded in preventing and treating perioperative complications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022 The Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We assessed risk factors for postoperative urinary retention (UR) in elderly males with femoral bone fractures: 169 Japanese males (mean age 81.95 ± 1.19 years) who had undergone hip surgery at a municipal hospital (Toyama, Japan). A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to test possible risk factors for UR: age, body mass index, serum albumin, cognitive impairment, activities of daily living (ADL), and history of diabetes mellitus (DM). UR occurred in 24 (14.2%) of the 169 patients. A multivariate logistic regression analysis with age adjustment showed that ADL (odds ratio [OR] 3.88; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.2-12.5, p=0.023) was significantly associated with the development of UR, and a history of DM showed marginal significance for UR occurrence (OR 0.36, 95%CI: 0.11-10, p=0.064). These results suggests that ADL is a risk factor for UR development in elderly males who have undergone surgery for femoral neck or trochanter fractures., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

To evaluate hematological effects of direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) extremely low frequency (ELF) electric field exposure, this study investigated red blood cell (RBC) movement in whole blood. Video images of RBCs were recorded under a microscope using specially designed electrode systems. Video analysis software was then used to measure the RBC velocity. The noise level and measurement system stability were confirmed based on results of a no-field exposure experiment. Using the electrode system to produce a non-homogeneous electric field, different movements were found to occur in DC and AC field exposure. The RBCs moved in the directions of the electric field and the gradient of field distribution, respectively, in the DC and AC fields. Dependences of the RBC velocity on the field strength were, respectively, linear and quadratic in the DC and AC fields. These results suggest that electrophoretic and dielectrophoretic movements were, respectively, dominant in the DC and AC fields. The magnitude of the electric field necessary to cause these effects was found to be 10 3 -10 5 times greater than the internationally publicized guideline for human safety. © 2022 Bioelectromagnetics Society., (© 2022 The Authors. Bioelectromagnetics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Bioelectromagnetics Society.)

Using near-infrared (NIR) light with 700-1200 nm wavelength, transillumination images of small animals and thin parts of a human body such as a hand or foot can be obtained. They are two-dimensional (2D) images of internal absorbing structures in a turbid medium. A three-dimensional (3D) see-through image is obtainable if one can identify the depth of each part of the structure in the 2D image. Nevertheless, the obtained transillumination images are blurred severely because of the strong scattering in the turbid medium. Moreover, ascertaining the structure depth from a 2D transillumination image is difficult. To overcome these shortcomings, we have developed a new technique using deep learning principles. A fully convolutional network (FCN) was trained with 5,000 training pairs of clear and blurred images. Also, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was trained with 42,000 training pairs of blurred images and corresponding depths in a turbid medium. Numerous training images were provided by the convolution with a point spread function derived from diffusion approximation to the radiative transport equation. The validity of the proposed technique was confirmed through simulation. Experiments demonstrated its applicability. This technique can provide a new tool for the NIR imaging of animal bodies and biometric authentication of a human body., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement.)

Background: The main purpose of this study is to exhaustively explore risk factors, including age, gender, and several clinical indices, for mortality in elderly patients with femoral neck fracture and to evaluate some of them using survival analyses., Methods: This was a retrospective study tracking 1 year for vital prognosis. Data were collected at post-operation from medical records of the cases. Survival analysis was conducted to investigate the risk factors for death, including albumin, urinary retention, activity of daily living (ADL), and cognitive disorder., Results: We recruited 318 patients with a history of hip surgery carried out at Toyama Municipal Hospital, in which 39 patients died for 1 year after discharge. The results showed a significant decrease in survival rate in low albumin, positive urinary retention, and low ADL (P < 0.01, by log-rank test). The hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) of albumin, urinary retention, ADL, and cognitive disorder were 0.36 (0.19 - 0.69), 0.4 (0.2 - 0.8), 0.29 (0.15 - 0.58) and 0.65 (0.32 - 1.29), respectively., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that albumin, urinary retention and ADL were the important risk factors for mortality, and suggested that the postoperative management of albumin, urinary retention and ADL is important, especially in elderly female patients receiving surgery of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures., Competing Interests: None to declare., (Copyright 2020, Higashikawa et al.)

Aspiration pneumonia (AP) has been recognized as one of the most common postoperative complications after hip surgery in elderly. The objective of the present study was to evaluate risk for postoperative complications of AP in elderly patients with femoral neck fractures.We recruited 426 patients (age 84.9 ± 7.4 years) with a history of hip surgery carried out at Toyama Municipal Hospital. AP occurred in 18 out of 426 cases (4.23%). Statistical test has found significant differences in age, gender, serum albumin level, and cognitive impairment, between AP and non-AP groups. Subsequently multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the risk factors for AP, including age, gender, serum albumin, cognitive impairment, and activities of daily living (ADL). Adjusted odds ratio showed significant differences in age, gender, and serum albumin, whereas no significant differences were found in cognitive impairment and ADL.This study suggested that serum albumin seemed to be a risk factor for AP but were necessary to assess under adjustment of confounding factors, including age and gender. Monitoring serum albumin level seemed to be important for the postoperative management of AP, especially in elderly patients receiving surgery of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures.

Urinary retention (UR) has been recognized as one of the most common postoperative complications after hip surgery in elderly. The objective of the present study was to evaluate risk for postoperative complications of UR in elderly female patients with femoral neck fractures.We recruited 221 female patients (age 85.3 ± 7.0 years) with a history of hip surgery carried out at Toyama Municipal Hospital. UR occurred in 34 out of 221 cases (15.4%). Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the risk factors for UR, including age, body mass index (BMI), serum albumin, cognitive impairment, and activities of daily living (ADL).The results showed significant association of UR with cognitive impairment (P = .005, odds ratio [OR] 4.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.53-11.03), and ADL (P = .029, OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.11-6.18), under adjustment with age and BMI.This study demonstrated that cognitive function and ADL were the important risk factors for UR, suggested that the postoperative management of UR is important with taking account of neurofunctional assistance and nursing care in daily living, especially in elderly female patients receiving surgery of femoral neck and trochanteric fractures.